Apparatus for converting the heavy products obtained from petroleum.



. P. ROTH & IVI. E. VENTURINO.

APPARATUS PoR coIIvERIIIIG THE HEAVY PRODUCTS OBTAINED FRoII/IPETROLEUM.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. I6. 1916.

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PEDRO ROTH EN D MXIIMO EDUARDO VENTUJRINO, 0E BENOSAIRES, RGENTINALAPPARATUS EOE. CONVERTING THE HEAVY PRODUCTS OBTAINED EROll/I PETROLEUM;

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented nee. ia, raie.

Application iled october 16, 1916. Serial No. 126,058.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it knownthat we, PEDRO ROTH and MXIMO `EDUARDO VENTURINO, citizens ofArgentina, residing at No. 750 Moreno street, Buenos Aires, Argentina,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus forConverting the Heavy Products Obtained from Petroleum, of which thefollowing is a specification.

'l'he present invention relates to an apparatus for converting the heavyproducts obtained from petroleum, into lighter products, a process whichforms the subject of an application for Let-ters Patent Serial No.126,057 and is therein specified, and an essential object of thisinvention is anfapparatus for carrying out said converting process in apractical manner and on an industrial scale. y

T his invention particularly has for its object an apparatus for theindustrial conversion of crude petroleum of any description and density,gas oil, mixtures of petroleum by-products with raw petroleum, etc.,into lighter products of petroleum.

For brevity and clearness in this specification, the general term heavyproducts of petroleum should be understood as comprising all thosehydrocarbons which are heavier than benzin, including kerosene, and thegeneral term lighter products of petroleum as including benzin, naphtha,gasolene, and petroleum gases and petroleum ether, that is to say,l alllight hydrocarbons, commencing with benzin inclusive. The division,however, between heavy and lighter products of petroleum, according tothe meaning given to these two terms for the objects of the presentinvention, should not be considered as being absolute, as on certainoccasions as for instance when a more or less large proportion ofkerosene is required in the converted product, that hydrocarbon will beregarded as being a light one.

According to the converting process above referred to, the heavypetroleum products are caused to fall, either in a liquid condition oratomized, upon a mass of residues of petroleum, asphalt, or oils, heatedto a temperature higher than the boiling point of the hydrocarbons whichare to be converted, whereupon the vapors and gases generated on theContact of the atomized heavy hydrocae bons with the heated mass. arecondensed.

stitute the larger percentage of the constituents of natural petroleum,itis indispensa ble :-(a) to extract by ordinary distillation 'thepetroleum ether and gases of petroleum,

gasol'ene, naphtha and benzin which said petroleum may contain; (b) toextract from said petroleum, already deprived of naphtha, the kerosenesand oils which it may contain; (c) to again add these heavierhydrocarbons, kerosenes, gas oil, lubricating oils and paraiins bycausing them to fall upon a mass of residues of petroleum, asphalt oroils, heated to a temperature higher than the 'boiling point of theproducts so added, and finally, (d) to condense the resulting vapors.

The present invention specially refers to an apparatus combining theconditions necessary to obtain the above results andy by means of whichsuch conversion or transformation may be performed in a simple,automatic and continuous manner.

The accompanying drawing is a diagram of a practical form of apparatusfor the industrial conversion of heavy petroleum products or by-productsinto lighter products. Said apparatus consists of a series of convertingboilers or stills, arranged on graduated levels and communicating witheach the middle of their height. `Each of said f boilers or stills isprovided, in the manner indicated Iin the drawings, with pipes or hosesfor the discharge of the vapors of distillation generated inside theboiler. In order that the conversion or transformation may take placecontinuously, it is preferable to arrange adouble series of boilers,`consisting of two symmetrical halves, of which only one has beenillustrated in the drawi'lgihe boiler or still 1,'Which, as Well as theothers of the series, may be of any convenient form or size, is providedwith a pipe 3 for the admission of the petroleum ,and with a. pipe orhose 4 for the discharge of the vapors of distillation generated in anysuitable type.

the interior of said still. The boiler or still communicates at aboutthe middle of its height, by means of an inclined pipe with anotherboiler 6, similarly provided with a discharge pipe or hose 7 forA thevapors of distillation. rThe boiler 6 communicates with the boiler 9,arranged at a lower level than the former, through an inclined pipe 8which connects them at about` the middle of their respective heights.The distilling pipe 7 of the boiler .6 ends in a coil 13, arrangedwithin a refrigerating tank 14 wherein a circulation of water or of anyother suitable cooling medium is maintained for effecting thecondensation of the vapors of distillation which pass to a separatingvessel or reservoir, hereinafter to be described. The boiler 9 isprovided also with a pipe or hose 10 for the discharge of the vapors ofdistillation generated in the interior of same and said pipe or hosealso ends in a coil 16 arranged within a refrigerating tank, 17, similarin all respects to the refrigerating tank 14. The

coil 16, as well as the coil 13, aforementioned,v on issuing from therefrigerating tank 17, discharges at the upper part of the separatingvessel 15.

The distilling'boiler or still 9 communicates with a boiler 12 by meansof a pipe 11., at about the middle of their respective heights. -Thislatter boiler 12 is the still in which the conversion is performed. Saidconverting boiler is provided with a discharge hose 21 for the vapors ofdistillation, ending in a coil 22 arranged Within a refrigerating tank23 wherein Water or any other cooling medium is caused to circulate.Said coil terminates in a trap 25 and. discharges into a reservoir orvessel 26 in which the condensed converted products are collected. Thecoil 22 is provided with a pipe 24 which allows of the escape to theouter air of thev gases which may not have been condensed by the actionof the 'refrigerating medium in the tank' 23.

The separating vessel 15 is provided at the side, near the top, with adischarge pipe 18 which permits of the discharge from said vessel orreservoir of the heavy or middle hydrocarbons which are collectedtherein after being condensed and separated from the Water and otherimpurities which lthey may have contained. The pipe 18 is arranged Witha compressor 19, of

The heavy hydrocarbons, after being submitted to the action of saidcompressor, pass into the `interior of the boiler through an atomizer20.

The converting boiler 12 is provided, as are also the other boilers,with a pipe 28 leading from it at about the middle of its height, forthe purpose which will be explained when describing` the operation ofthe apparatus.

All the boilers are supported on masonry and at their bases are arrangedfire boxes 2, adapted to be heated in any suitable manner, preferablyhowever, by means of oil burners which allow of a better regulation ofthetemperatiue. Said stills or boilers are also provided with allnecessary iittings, such as thermometers, pressure gages, gage glasses,etc., and with the necessary apertures or doors not shown here, at.thefoot of the boilers for the purpose of the complete discharge orcleaning when desired.A

The other half of the plant, when the same is double, for performing acontinuous conversion, will not be described here as it is exactlysimilar to that already specified.

The separating vessel 15 which forms an essential part of thisinvention, works automatically. Said vessel consists of a easingprovided at the top with a pipe 29 for the escape of the gases, and atone of its sides, near the bottom, with pipe 27 which bends upward andthe length of which has been calculated so as to keep the water insidethe vessel or reservoir always at the same level. In this manner, whenthe condensed vapors fall into said vessel through the ends of the coils13 and 16, they will lill the same above the level of the water, and inthe event of any water or impurities being carried along by said vapors,the level of the water in the vessel cannot rise, as it escapes throughthe pipe 27, as clearly shown in.

the drawings.

Having now described the arrangement of the apparatus in its entirety asWell as the essential parts thereof, We shall proceed to explain itsoperation for performing the conversion as stated.

In the boiler or still 1 the temperature is maintained at a sulicientheight for distilling the light hydrocarbons of the petroleum which isfed into the boiler continuously by means of the pipe 3. Saidtemperature is about 200 degrees centigrade, which is suiicient fordistilling away all the lighter hydrocarbons, down to benzin inclusive.The

vapors of distillation issue from said boiler l by the pipe 4, and arecondensed in any suitable way and led to a convenient reservoir forcontaining the lighter products of petroleum. When the level in theboiler 1 reaches that of the discharge pipe 5. the petroleum, alreadydeprived of naphtha, passes to the boiler 6 wherein a suhciently hightemperature is maintained for distilling the kerosenes and theproportion of oils which may be desired in this boiler, for example, upto per cent. of the entire volume of petroleum introduced into theboiler or. still 1. When the level of the liquid in the boiler 6 reachesthat of the discharge pipe 8, it passes into still 9 where said residueswill even yet distil off a small in the petroleum or even in increasingtheir the converting still 12, after having filled the boiler 9 to thelevel of theoutlet pipe of the latter. The vapors yof distillation whichescape from the boilers 6 and- 9 by the pipes 7 and 10, respectively,are condensed in the coils 13 and 16 andthe resulting hydrocarbons,belonging to the heavy products of petroleum in accordance vwiththe'present invention, will be collected in the separating vvessel 15which operates in the manner described before and the main object ofwhich is to separate the petroleum or products obtained from the same,from the water or impurities which may have been carried along duringdistillation and the gaseswhich may not have been condensed. Thehydrocarbons contained in the separating vessel 15 pass from it by thepipe 18 to the compressor or pump 19 and finally to the atomizer 20, andfrom there they are injected into the converting boiler 12 in the formof a line spray which falls upon the heated mass of `residues containedin said boiler; conversion will then take place in the boiler in themanner already described and the vapors of distillation will pass out bythe pipe or hose 21l gases and petroleum ether, which are al lowed toescape to the outer air by the tube 2A. After the vapors have beencondensed within the coil 22, the resulting liquid passes tothereservoir 26 from which it may be extracted in any suitable manner.

constitute the lighter by-products obtained from the petroleum inaccordance with the present invention.

lt may happen that on certain .occasions among the hydrocarbons gatheredin the interior of the reservoir 26, kerosenes and other oils are found,in which case they are submitted to fractional distillation, accordingtothe usual methods and said oils and kerosenes are introduced againinto the 'converting boiler by means of the atomizer 20. Forthis purposethey may be placed inthe separating vessel 15.

When there is some special `interest in preserving thekerosenesnaturally contained proportion, any one of the following twomethods may be followed (l) Within the still 1, a temperature should bemaintained sufficient to distil, besides the light hydrocarbons, alsothe kerosene which may be desired; for instance, a temperature up toabout 270 degrees centigrade may be employed, and the subsequentprocedure followed as indicated in connection with the other boilers.(2) Between the boilers or stills 1 and 6, another boiler, not shown,may be inserted, exclusively des- .tined for dstilling off thekerosenes, .and

the vapors. 'of this distillation will then be collected and condensedseparately. As regardsthe remainder of the operations, vthe processisthe same as that which has been described above.

In order to obtain a continuous converyboilers is used, as beforeexplained, and in the pipes 5 are, arranged valves by.l means of whichthe operation may be transferred from one side of the double battery orseries to the other,` in order that the operation of one of the sidesmay be suspended to allow for effecting the discharge and cleaning ofthe boilers. j `The apparatus which forms the subject of thisinvention,- is evidently susceptible of modification in many ways asregards its arrangement and details of construction, but suchmodifications are to be considered as being within the limits of theinvention, the essential features of which'l will be clearly defined inthe claims hereunto annexed.

We declare that what We claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. Apparatus for the industrial conversion of the heavy products ofpetroleum `into lighter products, comprising in combi- Theseliquids arethe converted products which nation :-a series of boilers arranged inbattery, means of connection between every two successive boilers, meansfor the d1scharge of the vapors and gases-of distillation from eachboiler, means for condensing said vapors and gases, means for'separatingthe condensed heavy or middle hydrocarbons fromthe water and impuritieswhich they may contain, and means for 'introducing said .liquid heavy ormiddle hydrocarbons into the vapor space of the lowerrnost orconverting, boiler and means for condensing the vapors generated withinsaid `converting boiler.

2. Apparatus for the industrial conversion of the heavy products ofpetroleum into lighter products, comprising in combination v:ma seriesof boilers arranged in battery, means of connection between every twosuccessive boilers, means for the discharge of the vapors and` gases ofdistillation from each boiler, means for condensing said vai pors andgases, means for separating the n condensed heavy or middle hydrocarbonsfrom the Water and impurities which they may contain, means forintroducing said v liquid heavy or middle hydrocarbons under 5 pressureinto the vapor space of the lower- L most or converting boiler and asprayer connected to said last mentioned means through Which/the middlehydrocarbons are discharged and means for condensing the vaporsgenerated Within said converting 10 boiler.

In testimony whereof We affix our signaytures.`

PEDRO ROTH. I MXIMO EDUARDO vDNrURlNO.

